Relief valve for deep-well pumps



E Dec. 18,1928. I 1,696,007

c. B. LEWIS ET AL RELIEF VALVE FOR DEEP WELL PUMPS Filed Sept. 20, 192628 IIINVENTORS, C'harlesRLewis m EcggarnRobertson 2' ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

. UNITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. LEWIS AND EDGAR D. ROBERTSON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

RELIEF VALVE FOR DEEP-WELL PUMPS.

Application fil ed September 20, 1926. Serial No. 136,516.

; Our invention relates to valves for deep well pumps and moreparticularly to an improvedrelief valve foroil well pumps.

The main object of our invention is to provide an improved reliefvalveor check valve for use above the plunger in an oil Well pump, for thepurpose of relieving the pressure on the plunger thereof during itsdownward stroke, and also for the purpose of preventing sediment,particularly sand, from settling and packing around the plunger valve.

A further, object is to provide a relief valve, foruse as'descr'ibed,having a freely floating flapper which makes contact with a doubleseatso as, to insure positive and complete closure of the valve openingsand dependable action of the valve at all times. i

' A further object is to provide a valve, of the character described,which readily may be cleared'of sediment, after having been idle for atime, thus facilitating the resumption of pumping operations.

Other objects and'advantages will appear hereinafter and while We showherewith and will describe a preferred form of construction, we desireit to be understood that we'do not confine ourselves to such preferredform but that various changes andadaptations may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of our invention as hereinafter claimed.

Referring to the drawings which 'accom-- pany this specification andform a part thereof lower part of an oil Well and of a. pump thereinwhichis equipped with our improved relief valve.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the relief valve shown in Fig.1, taken on line 22 of that figure.

I Figs. 3, 1 and 5 are transverse sectional views of the relief valvetaken on lines 3-3, 44; and 55, respectively, of Fig.2.

Considered more in detail the drawings show a well casing 10 withinwhich is a pump having the usual standing valve 11, Garbutt attachment12, plunger 13, working barrel 14, plunger valve 15, pol sh rod 16 andpump tubing 17. A coupling shoe 18, having a slightly tapered seat 19,connects two sections of the pump tubing above working barrel 14, saidcoupling shoe being especially adapted to receive and support ourimproved relief valve.

The valve consists of a. tubular standing or Fig. 1 is a verticalsectional view of the fixed part 20, adapted by its slightlytaperedlower end to rest in seat 19 of shoe 18, a guide-sleeve 21, having'itslowerend screwed into the upper end of fixed part 20, a limiting nutorstop-nut 22 and a. lock-nut 23 screwed onto said guide-sleeve, in spacedrelation to said fixed part 20, and a movable part or flap per 24' whichencirclessaid guide-sleeve between said nut 22 and the upper end offixed part 20. The bore of guide-slceve21 is of'a diameter slightlylargerthan that of polish the inhuence of the varying pressures to whichit is subjected.

The upper half, or thereabouts, of the fixed part of the valve has athreaded bore 26 adapted to receive the threaded lower end ofguide--sleeve 21 and the lower half has an enlarged'borc 27 providing anannular space 28, around the polish rod, through which the upwardlyflowing liquidniay pass. Vertical openings or ducts 29, communicatingwith annular space 28 are cut in the upper end of iii-Led part 20,leaving radial partitions or arms 30 and an inner sleeve 31 whichforin aconnecting spider therein between guidesleeve 21 and the outer sleeve 32thereof, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, The upper ends of radial arms 30 arecut away, as shown in F ig. 2, so as to leave an annular channel in theupper end of fixed part 20, and the inner edges of the channel walls areslightly beveled, at 3%, thus forming two concentric annular seat faceson'whicli the flapper rests when the valve is closed.

The flapper 24 is made in the form of a short heavy sleeve or ringhaving an inner diameter Suiiiciently greater than the. outer diameterof guide-sleeve 21 to insure free 'movement of the former on the latterand to the inner side of the ring so as to equalize the pressure on allsides thereo'lf, especially when in contact with stop-nut 22.

The valve, thus made, and placed as shown in 1, serves as a check valvewhich permit-s an upward flow and prevents a downward low of liquidthrough the pump. During the upward stroke 01 the plunger 13 the upwardpressure of the liqij'iid, as it flows through openings 29 of the.valve, overbalanc-es the downward pressure of the liquid in the upperpart of the pump and lifts flapper 24 from its seat 34. As soon as theplunger has reached the limit of its upward stroke, flapper 2% fallsbz-ick onto its seat where it rigidly held, during the downward strokeof the plunger, by the downward pressure of the liquid above.

It will be seen that the construction of our valve provides ampleclearance for the flapper so that it has exceptional freedom of action.This particular arrangement of the flapper also enables the valve toclear itself of sediment, if nottoo considerable in amount, whenoperation of the pump resumed after a period of rest. This constructionalso permits the withdrawal of the plunger from the pump when suchwithdrawal becomes necessary, the valve being so scatedithat it willpull out with the plunger when the plunger valve comes in contacttherewith.

Having thus illustrated and described our invention we claim:

A relief valve for deep-well pumps, com prising a lined tubular memberhaving a seat in its upper end, a central guide extending above saidiiXe'd member, said guide being adapted to receive the polish rod of apump, and a vertically movable ring-flapper directed by said guide, saidring-flapper being adapted to seat on said seat,theupper) end of saidring-flapper being provided with radial grooves, and a nut to limit theupper movement o1 said ringflapper, said radial grooves equalizing thepressure on all sides of

